If we were to celebrate "Women's Day" for just one day each year we'd honestly be doing a huge injustice to all the inspiring, talented and ambitious woman we encounter on a daily basis here at the Lifestyle Guide. So we're delighted to announce a monthly feature where we celebrate some of the UK's incredible women in business and share their stories with our community as we just know there is a lot that will inspire and resonate with you all.
This month we take the opportunity to learn more about Justine Murphy and mymuybueno with our quick-fire Q & A that takes us along her journey and gives a little insight into how Justine has created such an amazing brand through her entrepreneurial spirit!
We hope you enjoy, over to you Justine...
Justine Murphy The mymuybueno Cookbook
In her unique and inspiring book, Justine Murphy not only shares delicious recipes and valuable tips on navigating the challenges of modern life, but also her extraordinary story, giving us an incredible insight into the woman behind the successful business: mymuybueno.
Now in its eighth year, mymuybueno is a highly successful international company with seven divisions, but it is Justine’s core values and commitment to maintaining the personal touch that really makes her company stand out from the crowd. Built from the ground up, the group now includes an award-winning deli, chef and interior staffing agencies, a cookery school, concierge and lifestyle management service, bespoke events and luxuryware divisions, all with the connection between good food and good people at the very heart of them.
The Who? We're always curious to find out more about the people/entrepreneurs behind the brand - Could you give us a bit of background about yourself?
I’m Justine Murphy, 40 years old, from London. Mother to two amazing little boys. My background was hospitality and restaurant management, and I decided to follow my heart and find my happiness and went off to work on superyachts as a private chef, initially self-taught and then acquiring my Cordon Bleu training under my belt some years later. Worked with some of the worlds’ most influential people, and got to travel and see the world in an amazing way. I met my husband on a yacht we worked on, very much fell in love with Mallorca, settled there and started mymuybueno.
It was the beginning of finally having a good quality of life, after overcoming much adversity in my childhood and early adult years. I've built-up my company, returned to London last year and have very much come full circle.
The What? What is the brand all about...
The name mymuybueno sums it up, the "my" is the personal part and the British part, and the "muy bueno" is the nod to Spain where it all began, it means "very good" when eating good food. I combined them to create our unique name and trademark. Luxury food and lifestyle are what we do, all with the personal touch, and never compromising on our standards or core values.
The Why? Why did you decide to create and launch your own company...
I had a big vision for mymuybueno, as an umbrella brand, to have different companies within the group but to all be connected. To create something very special, building the foundations brick by brick, to make a company around all of the areas I know and love, have expertise and experience in, and to fill the gap in the market.
I have built the company reputation over the past nine years to what it is today, and my vision only keeps growing and evolving. The focus is good food and good people, two of the areas that very much healed me from my background which was full of an unhealthy relationship with food and bad people. My journey led me to develop my values and philosophy, which are what I live by and run mymuybueno by, and never compromise on.
The How? How have you created the brand / service / solution (& what makes you different / USPs? subscription programme & sustainability, fair trade etc etc)
Community is a huge part of mymuybueno, and I have many different communities running through what we do, both in the culinary world and also the luxury world and superyachts, this one very much being our USP.
It is also accessible at every level, from our Deli and Cookery School, and then Luxuryware ( for plates, cutlery and glassware ) - this being the middle ground as well have plates at affordable prices, but then scales right up to the top end beautiful ones which we supply to yachts, and takes it into the luxury market. Then all the other companies are the luxury end, catering for high net worth clientele, with recruitment, with three agencies, Private Chefs being the first and now very proudly the biggest private chef agency in the world, and then we have expanded to Interior and Captain placement too. Lifestyle, which is a concierge and our superyacht brokerage for the sale and charters of luxury yachts.
Then extra elements connect it all, being our online chef community on Instagram @mymuybuenochefs which has a vasty following and we also interview chefs, who in turn we bring to the cookery school to teach, and share their story with our students, all of which are largely chefs on yachts, represented by our own agency while plating on plates from our Luxuryware.
All very connected, and then myself, I have been sharing my journey on my instagram for many years, and built my community there, from chefs to Mummies, and women in business, which is an area I am hugely passionate about, and I for many years have built up my community of women to inspire and empower, with event days, but this now has since covid evolved into my podcast, which is now in it’s second season and more accessible to everyone globally.
I also published my first cookbook last year too, so there’s plenty going on in all areas, which keeps it all very dynamic.
The Where? Where do you see the business, and the brand, in terms of growth/expansion or product development over the next year or two
The pandemic had a huge impact, meaning I have since moved my family back to London permanently, and my cookery school and deli too, all set to reopen in autumn here, which I can’t wait for and to be able to bring people together again will be so much more fulfilling than ever before. I moved my office into Michelin House, and very much building everything back up again stronger and better than ever, having to adapt and evolve, but continue pushing forward in all the ways.
Making my company and team strong again is the main focus, and then from there we are expanding into media now too, and I have a few other very exciting projects on the horizon too.
Distribution Channels - On-line ? In store / retail?
The mymuybueno Cookbook is available on Amazon and all good bookshops. The mymuybueno Women in Business podcast is on Apple and all podcast stations. And then you’ll find all about mymuybueno on the main website www.mymuybueno.com which then shares all about the company, and you can navigate to each company website within the group through that.
Takeaway question:
Who is your inspiration? What advice would you give your younger self?
My Granny was and still is my biggest inspiration, her work ethic, integrity and strength have always set a benchmark for me to adhere to. Advice for my younger self? I had a very traumatic childhood, so I guess it would be to hang in there and no matter what, I promise it is going to get better.
Despite everything I wouldn’t be the woman I am today, had it not been for the adversities I have overcome and that has given me the drive to get me to where I stand now, and the ability to share, inspire and help others through my story too.